As a DNP-prepared nurse, you may be called upon to assist in the design of a clinical database for your organization. This assignment requires you to integrate a clinical problem with data technologies to better understand the components as well as how those components can lead to better clinical outcomes.
General Guidelines:
Use the following information to ensure successful completion of the assignment:
- This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
- Doctoral learners are required to use APA style for their writing assignments. The APA Style Guide is located in the Student Success Center.
- Use primary sources published within the last 5 years. Provide citations and references for all sources used.
- You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.
Directions:
For this assignment, write a 1,000-1,250 word paper in which you:
- Select a clinically based patient problem in which using a database management approach provides clear benefit potential.
- Consider how a hypothetical database could be created to assist with this clinically based patient problem. Identify and describe the data needed to manage this patient problem using information from the electronic health record (EHR).
- Include a brief description of the patient problem that incorporates information needed to manage the specific problem. Describe what information is required for the patient to manage the condition and how the database and health care provider can be incorporated into the approach for better health outcomes.
- Describe each entity (data or attribute) that will be pulled from the EHR as either structured or unstructured and provide an operational definition for each. Structured data is more easily searchable and specifically defined. For example, structured data can be placed in a drop-down menu like hair color: brown, black, grey, salt and pepper, blonde, platinum, etc. Unstructured data is data that would be included in a nurse’s notes. An operational definition is how a researcher or informatics specialist decides to measure a variable. For example, when the nurses enter height into the EHR, do they enter height as measured in inches or centimeters or in feet and inches?
- Provide a complete description of data entities (the objects for which you seek information, i.e., patients) and their relationships to the attributes collected for each entity (data collected for each entity, i.e., gender, birthdate, first name, last name, etc.) that apply to the hypothetical database. You can use a concept map similar to the “Database Concept Map” resource, to help you describe the relationships between each entity and its attributes.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
Designing a clinical database is an essential aspect of the healthcare industry. As a medical professor, I have created assignments and provided guidance to medical college students on various topics related to healthcare. In this assignment, the focus is on integrating a clinical problem with data technologies to enhance clinical outcomes.
1. What is the objective of this assignment?
The objective of this assignment is to select a clinically based patient problem that would benefit from using a database management approach and create a hypothetical database that identifies and describes the data needed to manage the patient problem using information from the electronic health record (EHR).
2. How can a hypothetical database be created to assist with this clinically based patient problem?
A hypothetical database can be created by identifying the patient problem and the data needed to assist in managing the problem. The data can be obtained from the EHR, which includes structured and unstructured data. It is important to identify the information required to manage the condition and how the database and health care provider can be integrated into the approach to improve health outcomes.
3. What data is required for the patient to manage the condition?
To manage the specific patient problem, certain information is required, such as patient history, current and previous treatments, lab results, and medications. The database should also provide access to patient education resources and tools to monitor the condition.
4. How can structured and unstructured data be described?
Structured data is well-defined data that can be easily searched and accessed, such as information included in dropdown menus. Unstructured data refers to data that is not well-defined and is not easily searchable, such as data included in free-text notes. An operational definition is important to determine how to measure a variable, such as defining how height is measured in the EHR.
5. How can the data entities and their attributes be described for the hypothetical database?
Data entities can be defined as objects for which information is sought, such as patients, while attributes refer to the data collected for each entity, such as gender, birthdate, first name, and last name. A concept map can be used to describe the relationships between the data entities and attributes, providing a better understanding of the database’s design.
